First day of the tournament in Pool B of the women's Belfius EuroHockey Championships. Germany started with a massive win over Belarus, England survived a tough Ireland to take their first win.

Germany - Belarus 13-0

Germany powered past Belarus to record an imposing victory in the opening game of Pool B of the women's Belfius EuroHockey Championships.

Five first half goals set them on their way and they barely looked back with another five in the third quarter extending their lead into double figures with Rebecca Grote top scoring with four.

Pia Maertens (Germany): "Really happy, it was a very good start. You don't want to 'over-pace' in the first game and go too hard but a lot of us scored and we played really well. Next we have England which is the biggest game in our group so we will see what they can do!"

England survived a late Irish onslaught to win their first game in Pool B of the EuroHockey Championship in Antwerp with first half corner goals proving decisive.

Suzy Petty and Giselle Ansley scored one each before the big break for an imposing 2-0 lead and while Beth Barr got one back with 17 minutes to go, they held for a narrow 2-1 success.

Giselle Ansley (England): "We never expected to run away with it and it was a tough fight. We talk about home nations clashes as tough affairs and they were always going to come at us but we rode it out. They played with their heart on their sleeve and we had to match that. The intensity we took into the game we are pleased with and tournament hockey is about winning ugly if you have to."